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OF BODY AND MACHINE -- Honored researcher Hugh
Herr
talks about robotic ankle and its implications
for amputees.
|
Hugh Herr is shown work in his lab
at MIT. (photo: MIT) |
Previous articles on the PowerFoot are here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/
nf07/nfJUL07/nf073107-2.htm
and here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/
nf07/nfJUL07/nf072407-2.htm
For more about the prosthetics, use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/
sessearch.php?q=prosthe
tic+prosthetics&op=or
Today's story here...
http://local.lan
casteronline.com/4/210212
Story below:
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'Of body and machine'
Honored researcher Hugh Herr talks about
robotic ankle and its implications for amputees
By PAULA WOLF
Staff writer
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa - Lancaster County native Hugh Herr, already the
owner of numerous patents, has made national news with his invention of
the world's first robotic ankle.
Herr, a professor and researcher at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, unveiled the device in May and was featured on an "NBC
Nightly News" segment last month.
The motorized ankle-foot is groundbreaking because it allows the user to
simulate normal walking because of its unique design.
In 1982, when he was just 17, Herr lost both legs below the knee after
being trapped in a blizzard for three days while climbing New
Hampshire's Mount Washington.
A graduate of Penn Manor High School, Herr went on to earn a bachelor's
degree in physics from Millersville University, a master's in mechanical
engineering from MIT, and a doctorate in biophysics from Harvard
University.
Herr and his biomechatronics research group at the MIT Media Lab
developed the artificial joint, which is expected to be on the market
next summer.
In a phone interview last week, Herr said the ankle-foot prostheses
currently available are "completely passive" when the foot's on the
ground, producing an unnatural gait and causing the amputee to expend
about 30 percent more energy on walking than a nonamputee.
But the robotic, battery-powered ankle-foot he helped design, which is
light and flexible, is "more transportational" and "can somewhat
simulate healthy ankle function," he said.
The ankle-foot adjusts the level of energy to accommodate what the
wearer is doing, Herr said.
For instance, the prosthesis will propel the person forward, using
tendon-like springs and the battery-powered motor, and vary its
stiffness over irregular terrain just like a normal ankle does.
So, for the first time, amputees can walk with a normal gait.
Herr said it took about three years to develop the joint, and the core
technology behind it was at least a decade in the making.
The Cambridge, Mass., company iWalk will make the device commercially
available under the name PowerFoot One.
The prosthesis was first demonstrated to the public May 9, when Herr
wore it onstage during a symposium at MIT.
July 23 it got a broader introduction at the Providence (R.I.) Veterans
Affairs Medical Center, as 24-year-old Iraq War veteran Garth Stewart
showed it off to the media. Stewart, who lost the lower part of his left
leg in an explosion, worked closely with Herr and the biomechatronics
group for several months.
"This design releases three times the power of a conventional
prosthesis," Herr said when the joint debuted. "It's wild, like you're
on one of those moving walkways in the airport."
Herr created the prosthesis — partially funded through a five-year, $7.2
million grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs — through the
Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine, a collaborative effort
of the Providence VA Medical Center, Brown University and MIT.
In addition to being director of the biomechatronics research group at
MIT, he is a research investigator for the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
A biography of Herr on the MIT Web site said his research on "biohybrid"
prostheses is "accelerating the merging of body and machine, improving
the lives of amputees and other physically challenged individuals ... ."
Among his many other inventions are elastic shoes that increase aerobic
endurance in walking and running. In the rehabilitation field, his group
has developed prostheses for amputees who've lost their legs above the
knee, and devices for patients suffering from drop foot, a condition
that can result from stroke, cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis.
He also was just named a recipient of a $250,000 Heinz Award for
Technology, the Economy and Employment, which will be presented next
month in Pittsburgh.
Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by
e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.
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Larry Scott --
